Suneet Varma completes 25 years in business

Two couture shows and a coffee table book mark the milestone

This year, Suneet Varma's eponymous label turns 25. It would be a landmark for any designer, and Varma's big year sees two couture shows (one was in April, the other in November), the coffee-table book Threadbare, and a return to prêt.

To celebrate this milestone, Varma is presenting a couture collection on November 24 that is inspired by five unusual maharanis — Princess Niloufer of Hyderabad, Princess Durru Shehvar of Berar, Anita Delgado, Princess of Kapurthala, Maharani Bamba Duleep Singh of Lahore and Princess Esra of Hyderabad. They were all European women who married Indian royalty and brought a Western look to the country’s style — which Varma feels perfectly represents his aesthetic.

For this show, every invitee will get a jewelled bottle of perfume — at the factory, a team is working on making this flacon as beautiful as can be. Threadbare will also be ready to present with the collection, and author Nishat Fatima reveals that the book “looks at all aspects of Indian fashion, not just his own label. Suneet talks of succession and how to keep the label alive.”

The designer has archived every sketch and every picture he’s ever taken — "I still have my first love letter," he says — and the book promises to be